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Tales on the Rails are back!

The Welsh Books Council are staying on track with another exciting event in their successful @LlyfrDaFabBooks reading promotion scheme.

The lucky youngsters taking part were Foundation Phase pupils from Ysgol Tal-y-bont, Ysgol Rhydypennau, Bow Street and Ysgol Craig yr Wylfa, Borth. The main focus of the day centred around Mam-gu a Fi, the first Welsh-language book of its kind to discuss dementia from the viewpoint of a young child.

Pupils travelled by train to Aberystwyth where they visited the town library, and then ventured on to Ceredigion Museum for a workshop with Delyth Parry Huws, Ceredigion Children's Librarian.

Delyth Parry Huws stated, "A third of young people know someone who is living with dementia. This was a great opportunity to discuss the subject in an informal and accessible way with young children."

The project was a collaboration between the Welsh Books Council, the Cambrian Railway Partnership and Transport for Wales Rail Services, as well as Ceredigion Library and Museum. Every child received a copy of the book in a dedicated book bag as part of the event thanks to sponsorship by the Cambrian Railway Partnership.

Claire Williams, Cambrian Railway Partnership Development Officer, remarked, "We are happy to be working with schools and libraries in the area, and this project gave us the opportunity to raise awareness regarding safety and services on the railway. The chance to work with Ceredigion Museum is an exciting development for us."

Published by CAA Cymru, Mam-gu a Fi is part of Reading Well: Books on Prescription, a scheme that provides books especially for people with dementia, their families and carers.

Delyth Ifan, Director of CAA Cymru, explained, "The scheme originally contained only English-language titles but thanks to the Welsh Books Council and Welsh Government funding, there are already three Welsh-language titles on this theme and several more on a variety of themes will be available in Welsh over the next couple of years."

According to Helen Jones from the Welsh Books Council, "One of our main aims is to promote reading for pleasure, and we coordinate @LlyfrDaFabBooks reading promotion events all over Wales to raise the profile of children's and young adult literature in Welsh and English. These are great opportunities to offer experiences outside the classroom, an important part of the new curriculum for Wales.